On Thursday 6 September, Denmark’s prime minister took a look at nanotechnology and interdisciplinarity when she passed by students and staff at iNANO.

2012.09.08 | Anne-Mette Siem

The foyer was buzzing before she arrived, but everything was ready when Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt arrived on Thursday afternoon to visit the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Centre (iNANO). She stepped out of her BMW in fine weather to be met by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET), the mayor of Aarhus, the chair of the University Board and the rector of Aarhus University, flanked by Centre Director Niels Christian Schmidt.

The iNANO foyer was full of nanoscience students sitting and working, and they were the focal point to a great extent during the visit.

What we will live on
The prime minister wanted a closer look at what Denmark will live on in the future, and she got an idea of the way an interdisciplinary approach, nanotechnology and top-level research can help meet the challenges.

“All the challenges of the future are complex and global. Interdisciplinarity is necessary if we’re to understand them and contribute to them,” said Rector Lauritz B. Holm-Nielsen in his welcome speech, while the prime minister was being offered a taste of molecular gastronomy and drinks from the bottle. During the remainder of the visit, staff and students at iNANO showed the prime minister how they take an interdisciplinary approach to thinking big and new – but on a nanoscale.

Interdisciplinarity pays off
Centre Director Niels Christian Nielsen introduced the prime minister to the centre, which has proved in the ten years of its existence that thinking in an interdisciplinary way pays off.

A living example of this is the team of undergraduates who won a biodesign competition at Harvard. They represented different branches of nanotechnology, and highlighted precisely their different approaches to things as one of the reasons their project was so successful.

During her guided tour of iNANO, Helle Thorning-Schmidt was given a closer look at semiconductor technology for producing solar cells, how to make nano-sized typographical maps, and how collaboration between research and the business sector can help develop unique products. All of this was enthusiastically presented by the staff and students. And the prime minister shared their enthusiasm, directing her questions to the students in particular and asking about their reasons for throwing themselves into nanotechnology.

She concluded her visit by emphasising that the students and their enthusiasm and ambitions were something that had made a great impression on her. “I’ve gained a good insight into nanoscience. I almost feel as though I understand it. It’s fantastic to see a university that wants to be in the world class, and that does what’s necessary to get there,” said Helle Thorning-Schmidt prior to leaving the university.

See also Prime minister visits iNANO – via Storify (in Danish only).